Samples are taken from a bale of agricultural products, for example, cotton or other fibrous materials, so that the sample can be analyzed by an agency, typically a division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Currently, the USDA requires that a ID tag be put between the two half's of the sample, one portion from each side of the bale. The sample with the tag is then rolled or put into a heavy paper sleeve the length of the sample. The sample must be conditioned for moisture and temperature before grading. The heavy sleeve must be removed before this can be done. The rolled sample must be unrolled before this can be done. (See, for example, “Instructions to Samplers Drawing Samples for Smith-Doxey (Form 1) Classification,” published in association with the USDA Agriculture Marketing Service Cotton Program.) The sample is analyzed for density, moisture content, and other classifying information in order to classify and grade the bale for shipment and delivery.
The sample taken from the bale is typically formed during the bale pressing and bagging process in the ginning mill by cutting the bale on at least two sides, e.g., the top and bottom of the bale, during the bale pressing process. The bale is then rotated to expose the two cut portions on what is now each side of the bale, and individual sections of the bale are removed to be combined, and further processed to form a sample and shipped to the certifying agency. During the bale bagging process, the cut portions on each side are removed at a sampling station by grasping and pulling the cut portions to form the sample of the bale before bagging. After the bale is bagged at a bagging station, identification information in the form of a Permanent Bale Identification (PBI) tag having a unique optically readable number and standard scannable barcode is permanently attached to the bagged bale at a labeling station, which is used to identify the bale based on the gin code/gin bale number, for example, in a 12-digit coding that complies with the USDA standards for identifying cotton bales.
In a known manner, the combined sample taken from the bale is identified with the bale by placing a USDA-AMS Cotton Identification Coupon, which is printed with and removed from the bale's PBI tag, between the inside surfaces of the two sample sections. The sample is then placed in a bag with other samples and delivered to the USDA for classification and grading. In this process, however, the samples tend to unwind or unroll when placed in the bag and during delivery of the bag, so that the identification coupon becomes misplaced or separated from the sample.
In another exemplary known sampling processes, as described in U.S. publication 2009/0188332, filed Jan. 26, 2009, a set of grippers is used to remove the cut portions of the bale. The cut portion are then combined into a single sample and bagged in a sample bag which is sent to the USDA for analysis. At the classifying office, however, typically the samples are removed from the bags in which they arrive in order for the sample to be laid out for classifying and grading by conditioning the sample in a temperature and humidity controlled room. The identification information on the bag can then be misplaced or separated from the sample by, for example, and lost.
There is a need in the art for a method for efficiently preparing a cotton bale sample that has identification information securely fastened to the cotton bale sample during shipping, classification and grading to prevent the separation of the identification information from the sample while at the same time maintaining the integrity of the sample.